Visual tuning device for stringed instruments



Oct. 16, 1962 Filed June 29, 1959 C. O. MUSSER VISUAL TUNING DEVICE FORSTRINGED INSTRUMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CLAIR QMAI? M05551? BY Mfin.

ATTORNEY Oct. 16, 1962 c. o MUSSER VISUAL TUNING DEVICE FOR STRINGEDINSTRUMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 29, 1959 'IIIIIIIIIIIIII III/lFIG. 9.

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Q Q 2 M V 2 A M 0 w M C A 7T02A/5Y United States Patent Ofiice 3,058,384Patented Oct. 16, 1962 3,058,384 VISUAL TUNING DEVECE FOR STRINGEDINTRUMENTS Clair Omar Musser, 12997 Blairwood Drive, Studio City, Calif.Filed June 29, 1959, Ser. No. 823,666 3 Claims. (Cl. 84-454) Thisinvention pertains to visual tuners for stringed musical instruments.

The tuning of stringed musical instruments has always been regarded as avery serious matter. The average individual is normally regarded asbeing incapable of accurately tuning any such instrument because of alack of proper auditory acumen. Even many professional musicians areincapable of accurately tuning stringed instruments for the same reason.The consequences of such inaccurate tuning vary, of course, with theextent of the inaccuracy. Practically every individual has on a numberof occasions listened to music of an improper and disturbing characteras a result of improperly tuned instruments.

Because of the fact that most individuals are incapable of accuratelytuning by ear conventional stringed musical instruments a number ofattempts have been made to provide devices capable of visual inspectionin order to determine if such instruments are properly tuned. Theseprior visual tuners have relied upon reeds or rods fixed to some sort ofa base or support so as to have a free end and a fixed end. In theseprior devices one of these reeds or rods is generally provided for eachof the strings of an instrument, and each of the reeds or rods isproportioned as to its length so as to vibrate sympathetically inaccordance with the desired tuned frequency of a corresponding string ofthe instrument.

Visual tuners of this type are considered objectionable for a variety ofreasons. One of these is that the frequency at which such a reed or rodwill vibrate depends upon its length. Hence, such reeds or rods mustvary considerably as to their lengths in many common types of stringedmusical instruments. This obviously is inconvenient and impractical formany purposes. Further, the vibration of a reed or rod fixed at one endand having another free end is governed by a number of differentphysical limitations such as the inherent elasticity of the materialfrom which such a reed or rod is manufactured. It is this elasticitywhich sustains the vibration in such a member.

As a result of the physical dimensions of such a reed or rod it will notvibrate exactly in the desired theoretical manner. This manifests itselfby such a reed or rod dividing itself during vibration into a series ofunequal ventral segments separated by various compound nodes. Theseeffects are particularly evidenced at lower frequencies sincecomparatively long reeds or rods are more susceptible to the creation ofcompound nodes than are shorter reeds or rods.

An object of the'present invention is to provide visual tuners for usein stringed musical instruments which are much more desirable andacceptable than the aforegoing and various related types of visualtuners known at the present time. A further object of the presentinvention is to provide visual tuners which are much more accurate thanmany prior devices of a similar character and which nevertheless may bemanufactured and used in a stringed musical instrument ata comparativelynominal cost. A i

ing any basic changes in the structures of such instruments.

These and many other objects and advantages of this invention will befully apparent to those skilled in the art to which this inventionpertains from a detailed consideration of the remainder of thisdescription including the appended claims and the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of what may be referred to as an extremelysimple embodiment of a stringed musical instrument embodying a visualtuner of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of this instrument;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the tuner employed in theinstrument shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a guitar including a visual tuner of thisinvention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 6- 6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional View taken at line 7--7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational View corresponding to FIGS. 4 and 6 of amodified visual tuner of this invention incorporated within a stringedmusical instrument;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the visual tuner shown in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of several plastic parts which may be usedin a modified visual tuner of this invention.

The accompanying drawings are primarily intended so as to clearlyillustrate several presently preferred forms or embodiments of thisinvention. It will be realized, however, that visual tuners as hereindescribed may be constructed in a number of difierent manners as may bedesired in using these tuners upon various different instruments, suchas pianos, zithers, violins, or the like. Such modification oradaptation of visual tuners of the present invention can be made throughthe exercise of routine or conventional engineering skill with a minimumof difiiculty following the principles of this invention set forth inthis specification.

As an aid to understanding this invention it can be essentially statedin summary form that it involves visual tuners for use in stringedinstruments having at least one string held under tension. In accordancewith this invention such a string extends across a supporting bridgestructure so that some tension is applied to this bridge structure bythe string. With the visual tuners of this invention a resilient reed orspring is mounted upon such abridge structure so as to have a free endlocated away from this bridge structure; this free end carries acounterbalanced head or weight. With this construction the combined reedand weight are proportioned and tuned so as to vibrate sympatheticallywith the corresponding string when this string is in tune and vibratesat the desired frequency.

e The actual nature of this invention is'best more fully explained byreferring directly to the accompanying drawings. In FIGS. 1 to 4 of thedrawings there is shown what may be considered a stringed musicalinstrument 10 of the present invention which has been designed so as toclearly illustrate the essential nature of a visual tuner as hereindescribed. Strictly speaking the instrument 10 is not a conventionalinstrument at all, but is a simple structure containing a single string12 which is capable of being'actuated so as to vibrate at a desiredfrequency when bowed, plucked or struck. Thus, the instrument 10 isdesigned so as to produce a single note. It is further 3 designed toshow how the basic principles employed in a visual tuner of the presentinvention can be embodied within virtually any type of stringedinstrument, regardless of Whether such an instrument is a zither, aviolin, 'a guitar, a mandolin, a viola, a harp, a ukulele, a piano orthe like.

In the instrument one end of the string is immovably held by means of asmall pin 14 mounted upon a board 16. This board 16 can be considered asounding board although for explanatory purposes it can be considered asa complete top of any conventional type of instrument. The other end ofthe string 12 is held by means of a conventional tuning pin 18 in such amanner that the tension upon the string 12 may be adjusted as may berequired. In the instrument 10 this string 12 extends across a fixed,conventional bridge 20 which may, for purposes of understanding thisinvention, be considered as being the equivalent of a fret or the likeupon a number of different types of conventional musical instruments.

The string 12 also extends through holes 22 and 24 in another bridge 28forming a part of a visual tuner of this invention. It will be seen froman examination of the drawings that the tuned length of this string 12when it is in tune corresponds to the distance between the top of thebridge 20 and the hole 22. The bridge 28 has a generally square,cross-sectional configuration as indicated in FIG. 4 of the drawing. Itincludes a bottom side 30 designed to be attached to the board 16 bymeans of a small screw 32. The hole 24 is formed in a back side 34 ofthe bridge 28; the top side 36 of this bridge 28 connects the back side34 with a front side 38 of it containing the hole 22. This front side 38is separated from the bottom side 30 by means of a slot 40.

With this type of construction the string 12 is resiliently supported onthe front side 38 in such a manner that vibrations of this string 12 areefficiently transmitted to the top side 36 of the bridge 28. Preferablythe bridge 28 is sufficiently rigid in character so that tuning of thestring 12 through the rotation of the pin 18 does not cause the frontside 38 to contact either the board 16 or the bottom side 30 of thebridge 20.

In accordance with this invention vibrations from the string 12 aretransmitted through the structure of the bridge 28 to a small,resilient, flat reed or spring 42. The reed 42 is mounted upon the topside 36 so as to extend therefrom by means of a clamping plate 44secured to this top side 36 by means of screws 46. )With thisconstruction the reed 42 is in direct intimate contact with the surfaceof the top side 36.

The reed 42 thus has both a fixed end held against the bridge 28 and amovable end located remote from this bridge 28. In accordance with thisinvention, this movable end carries a counter-balanced head or weight48. Preferably this weight 48 is formed as an integral part of the reed42 as by being cast of metal upon an end of this reed. The mass of theweight 48 is, in accordance with this invention, proportioned so thatthe entire reed 42 and the weight 48 structure extending from the bridge28 sympathetically vibrates during vibration of the string 12 at afrequency corresponding to the desired tuned frequency of the string 12.

This type of construction, while seemingly very simple, is extremelyimportant, effective and advantageous. With this construction the weight48 is easily visible and there is no problem in determining when thereed 42 is or is not vibrating so as to indicate that the string 12 isin tune. In order to increase its visibility the weight 48 may, ofcourse, be colored. More important than this is the fact that it ispossible to form the reed 42 and weight 48 structure so that thisstructure is of a cornparatively small dimension and so that suchstructures can be used to accurately tune strings vibrating at virtuallyany frequency. As an example of this a series of small reeds andattached weights following the basic principles indicated in FIGS. 1 to4 of the drawings de signed to operate with strings vibrating atfrequencies normally encountered in musical instruments have beenconstructed so as to all have uniform lengths of approxirnately 1 cm.

A very important factor with the construction of the reed 42 and thecombined weight 48 lies in the manner in which this structure vibratessympathetically at a desired frequency without vibrating at other thansuch a desired frequency. During such vibration of this structure a nodeis created at the point where the reed 42 is rigidly secured to thebridge 28 and another node is created between the weight 48 and thebridge 28. In effect this means that the reed 42 vibrates during use inessentially a desired wave pattern and not as a conventional elongatedreed or rod. As a result of this type of construct-ion undesired nodesand ventral segments are not created during the use of a visual tuner asherein described. Hence, a simple tuning structure as indicated in FIGS.1 to 4 of the drawings is extremely accurate. These tuning structureshave been made so that strings of an instrument may be easily andconveniently tuned to within plus or minus .02 of a semitone. Theseresults are considered to be phenomenal.

In FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings there is shown a guitar 50incorporating a complete visual tuner 52 of this invention. The guitar50 is basically of a conventional construction and includes a body 54having a top 56. From this body 54 there extends a neck 58 carrying atits ends a plurality of tuning pins 60. These pins carry the ends of aplurality of strings 62 which extend across frets 64 on the neck 58 andacross the top 56 of the body 54 and terminate in a tail piece 66serving to hold these strings 62 in place.

With this invention each of the individual strings 62 passes through ahole 68 in a resilient arm 70 formed on an elongated, generallyrectangular bridge structure 72. These arms 70 extend from a base 74 ofthe bridge structure 72 which may be attached to the top 56 of theguitar 50 by an appropriate adhesive (not shown) or other equivalentmeans. It will be noted that each of the strings 62 passes throughanother hole 76 formed in a back side 78 of the bridge structure 72.

Within the tuner 52, flat, resilient metal reeds 80 similar to the reed42 previously described are secured to the arms '70 by jeans of clampingplates 82 and screws 84 in substantially the same manner in which thereed 42 is secured in place in the instrument 10. Each of the reeds 80carries a counterbalanced head or weight 86. These weights 86 differfrom one another as to size so as to be capable of vibrating togetherwith the attached needs 80 at a desired frequency corresponding to thetuned frequencies of the adjacent strings 62.

Preferably the tuner 52 includes a protective cover 88 attached to theback side 78 by means of screws 90. This cover is provided with anelongated transparent window 92 so that the vibration of the reeds 80and the attached heads 86 may be easily observed during a tuningoperation and so that these parts of the tuner are protected at alltimes.

The tuner 52 is operated in essentially the same manner as the tuner 28.Each of the reeds 80 and its attached head 86 is preferably proportionedso as to vibrate at the frequency of the string 62 passing through thearm 70* upon which this reed is operated. In accordance with theteachings of this invention it is pre ferred to form all the reeds 80 sothat they are identical to one another, and to accomplish thisproportioning by 0 varying the mass of the heads 86 attached to them.During the use of the tuner 52 an individual string 62 is caused tovibrate as the tension upon this string is varied through the use ofpins 60. When a string is in tune, and only at this point, thecorresponding reed 80 and head 86 will vibrate a substantial amount soas to indicate that this string is properly in tune. Further, since thereeds '80 are flat and are mounted so as to be spaced in substantialalignment with one another they will vibrate in parallel planes and willnot interfere with each other during such vibration.

In FIGS. 9 and 10 of the drawings there is shown a modified visual tuner94 of the present invention mounted within the top 96 of a conventionalstringed instrument such as a zither, a guitar, a violin or the like.This tuner includes an elongated, generally triangular shaped bar 98forming a part of a bridge 100. From this bar 98 there extends a plate102, the ends of which are formed so as to include a plurality of bentindividual resilient arms 104. Each of these arms carries at its freeend a. reed 106 to the free end of which there is attached acounter-balanced head or weight 108. The weight of the weights 108, ofcourse, vary so as to allow the tuner to be used with strings capable ofvibrating at different frequencies. The reeds 106 are secured to thearms 104 by means of plates 110 and screws 112 corresponding to theplates and screws 82 and 84 respectively.

The tuner 94 is preferably used so that shoulders 114 on the bar 98 restagainst the top 96 and support the entire tuner in such a manner thatthe reeds 106 and heads 108 are located beneath the top 96 directlyadjacent to an elongated, transparent window 116 mounted on the top 96.With this construction a plurality of strings 118, each corresponding toone of the reeds 106 extend across the exposed edge of the bar 98 in thees tablished manner.

When any of the individual strings 118 are in tune and are caused tovibrate such vibrations result in sympathetic vibration of acorresponding reed 106 and head 108. Since the reeds 106 are of a flatconfiguration and are mounted in substantially the same plane they donot interfere with each other as they vibrate, even though they are veryclosely spaced together. In tuning any one of these strings the tensionon it may be adjusted until when it is vibrated this corresponding partof the tuner 94 automatically vibrates, indicating that the desiredtuned state has been reached.

In FIG. 11 of the drawings there are shown several reeds 120 and 122capable of being used with any of the embodiments of the inventionpreviously discussed in place of the reeds, the heads on these reeds andthe clamping plates used to hold them in position. Thus, it will berealized that the term reeds used in connection with the reeds 120 and122 is employed in a broad generic sense.

These complete reeds 120 and 122 are designed to be molded completelyout of known organic polymers such as are commonly used for manypurposes. Both the reeds 120 and 122 include base plates 124 containingholes 125 which are adapted to be used in securing these reeds in placethrough the use of screws (not shown) so that the plates 124 are heldfirmly against a part of a bridge member in order to effectivelytransmit vibrations to flat, elongated reeds 126 of rectangularcross-section extending from surfaces 128 of the reeds 120 and 122. Thefree ends of the reeds 126 carry counterbalanced heads or weights 130.

The two reeds 120 and 122 differ as to the physical dimensions of theseheads 130 so as to illustrate how reeds of the general type shown inFIG. 11 may be adapted to be used in tuning different strings ofdiflerent frequencies. From an examination of FIG. 11 of the drawings itwill be noted that the weight 130- on the reed 120 is smaller than theweight 130 on the reed 122. This is because the reed 120 is adapted tobe used in tuning strings at a higher frequency than the reed 122. Withboth of the reeds 120 and 122 the total lengths of all of the completestructures shown are equal. Preferably all of the parts of these reeds120' and 122 are also of equal di- 6 mension and weight in all respectsexcept as to the weights of the heads used upon them.

Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will realizethat visual tuners as herein described constitu-te a decided advance inthe art of musical instruments. Tuners of the categories indicated inthis specification can be easily and conveniently used so as toaccurately tune visually Virtually any stringed musical instrument. Itis also important that these tuners may be manufactured and installed ineither new or existing instruments at a comparatively nominal cost, thubringing accurate tuning within the financial reaches of virtuallyanyone using a musical instrument. In all the tuners herein describedthe strings employed bear against the bridges forming a part of thesetuners in such a manner as to cause sympathetic vibrations to betransmitted through these bridge structures to the individual headedreeds used corresponding to a string employed. Because of the nature ofthis invention it is to be considered as being limited only by theappended claims forming a part of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. In a stringed musical instrument having a bridge and at least onetunable string extending across said bridge so as to bear against saidbridge so that a portion of said string next to said point of engagementof said string with said bridge is capable of being vibrated during theuse of said instrument, a tuning structure which includes:

a spring member operatively attached to said bridge so as to extendtherefrom adjacent to each string on i said instrument;

a weight operatively attached to each spring member at an extremitythereof remote from said bridge, each of said weights being tuned so asto cause the spring member carrying it to vibrate sympathetically duringthe vibration of the string adjacent to said spring member when thisstring vibrates at a desired tuned frequency;

a resilient arm formed on said bridge corresponding to each string onsaid instrument,

each string on said instrument bearing against said bridge adjacent tothe resilient arm corresponding thereto, each spring member beingattached to the resilient ar-m corresponding to the string whichcorresponds with such spring member so as to extend therefrom;

each string in said instrument bearing against a portion of said bridgeremote from the resilient arm corresponding to it.

2. In a stringed musical instrument having a bridge and at least onetunable string extending across said bridge so as to bear against saidbridge so that a portion of said string next to said point of engagementof said string with said bridge is capable of being vibrated during theuse of said instrument, a tuning structure which includes:

a spring member oper-atively attached to said bridge so as to extendtherefrom adjacent to each string on said instrument;

a weight operatively attached to each spring member at an extremitythereof remote from said bridge, each of said weights being tuned so asto cause the spring member carrying it to vibrate sympathetically duringthe vibration of the string adjacent to said spring member when thisstring vibrates at a desired tuned frequency;

a plurality of strings extending across and bearing against said bridge,

the spring member and the weight operatively attached theretocorresponding to each of said strings operatively attached to saidbridge, each of said spring members and the weight operatively attachedthereto corresponding to one of said strings;

said bridge extending into the interior of said musical instrument,

said spring members and the weights that are attached thereto beinglocated within the interior of said instrument, and

window means mounted on said instrument enabling said spring members andthe weights attached thereto to be viewed from the exterior of saidinstrument.

3. In a stringed musical instrument having a bridge and at least onetunable string extending across said bridge so as to bear against saidbridge so that a portion of said string next to said point of engagementof said string with said bridge is capable of being vibrated during theuse of said instrument, a tuning structure which includes:

a spring member operatively attached to said bridge so as to extendtherefrom adjacent to each string on said instrument;

a weight operatively attached to each spring member at an extremitythereof remote from said bridge, each of said weights being tuned so asto cause the spring member carrying it to vibrate sympathetically duringthe vibration of the string adjacent to said spring member when thisstring vibrates at a desired tuned frequency;

a plurality of strings extending across and bearing against said bridge,

the spring member and the weight operatively attached theretocorresponding to each of said strings operatively attached to saidbridge, each of said spring members and the weight operatively attachedthereto corresponding to one of said strings;

a resilient arm formed in said bridge corresponding to each of saidstrings,

each of said spring members being operatively attached to the one ofsaid arms corresponding to the string which corresponds to the springmember operatively attached thereto,

said strings bearing against a part of said bridge remote from saidarms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS796,289 Brady Aug. 1, 1905 841,384 England Jan. 15, 1907 1,742,869Mirfield Jan. 7, 1930 2,681,588 Dyner June 22, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS205,560 Germany Jan. 4, 190 9

